Richie Kotzen at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill

Richie Kotzen began playing piano at age five and (inspired by the band KISS) guitar at age seven in his home town of Reading, Pennsylvania. As a teen-ager, Kotzen played guitar with local bands and recorded his first solo album by the age of 18. A year later, in 1989, he created the video Rock Chops, highlighting many of his formative techniques, and appeared on the cover of Guitar World magazine.  Kotzen moved to Los Angeles in 1991 at age 21, and joined glam-rock band Poison. In 1996 Fender Musical Instruments launched two signature model guitars bearing Kotzen's name.  Kotzen joined the mainstream rock band Mr. Big in 1999 and currently plays guitar and fronts the Winery Dogs with bassist Billy Sheehan and drummer Mike Portnoy. Kotzen recently curated a career retrospective collection from his 18 solo albums; The Essential Richie Kotzen was released on September 2, 2014.

The Winery Dogs performed at B.B. King's Blues Club & Grill just a few months ago, but tonight Kotzen's trio (with bassist Dylan Wilson and drummer Mike Bennet) returned to the venue to feature his solo work. Kotzen made a splash as soon as he came on stage wearing red MC Hammer-type parachute pants, black high top sneakers and a black tank top exposing tattooed biceps. Opening the show with "War Paint," a new track on his latest release, Kotzen showed his bluesy roots both in his guitar playing and in his soulful vocals. The song exploded with hard and heavy riffs and not one but several guitar solo intervals -- and Kotzen was finger-picking, not using a pick. Kotzen showcased fluid legato and arpeggio sweeps using his bare fingertips. In a traditional classic rock style, he used minimal electronic effects and foot pedals, focusing more on what pure sounds he could wring out of his Fender guitar. The songs were well composed and Kotzen sang them well, occasionally climaxing with a soulful screech followed by similar sounds in his wailing, melodic guitar licks. The further he went into his two-hour performance, the deeper he went into his bluesy guitar runs. One can only wonder why he is not a better known guitarist.

Visit Richie Kotzen at www.richiekotzen.com.